Minghui looked around, panicked for a moment, but had no words to argue, so he could only force himself to be indignant, stretched out his trembling fingers, pointed at Cui Yi and said, "Okay! In this case, why don't you keep me here?" What's the use of being a minister of the Ministry of Justice? I'm going to find Mr. Ye and resign now, and I won't associate with treacherous villains like you!" He cursed, pushed away the crowd, and strode out the door.
When Ye Yongjia heard this at the Ministry of War, he was greatly alarmed. After discussing with Cai Xianqing for a while, he saw Ming Huiguang coming alone and took off his hat to resign. Ye Yongjia quickly comforted him with a friendly voice, and sternly ordered Cui Yi and other officials to come and teach him how to be righteous. He strongly blamed him for causing trouble for no reason, and he was not allowed to do it again in the future. Minghui was angry for a moment and did not have the courage to resign. When he saw Ye Yongjia gave him a step, he gave up his promise; Cui Yi was forced to bow deeply and apologize.
Although the turmoil on the surface has been eliminated, the relationship between the two is obviously irreconcilable, making Ye Yongjia feel deeply powerless. He couldn't bear Cui Yi's talent and courage, and he needed people like Ming Huiguang to decorate his appearance, so he had to try to alienate them. On the pretext that he would personally handle the prison litigation, he ordered Ming Huiguang to stay in Zhongshu Province forever and work in the province. No changes were made to the terms of reference.
After discussing this with Cai Xianqing, he couldn't help but feel sad, and sighed: "Back then, Niu Yuan and Yan Wen were at odds with each other, and there were endless internal disputes. I thought it was Liu Thief's inability to control them; but who could have expected that the situation at that time would actually be... It reappeared before my eyes...Now that I think about it, how much better than them am I?"
Cai Xianqing advised: "Tinglong, don't be discouraged. Although this matter is very difficult, as long as you hold on to the power and take precautions, you will be able to contain the fight and make it harmless to the overall situation. It's better not to think about these unpredictable things and start with the things at hand." The matter has been dealt with.”
Ye Yongjia always obeyed Cai Xianqing's words, so he calmed down his emotions and took out the confession submitted by Cui Yi. Seeing that the two documents were mutually corroborating, he couldn't help but secretly praise this person for his clever methods and felt somewhat comforted by it. Without much hesitation, he took it and set off to the inner garden to meet the saint.
The movements of Ye Dang have been noticed by people from Hunan. When he learned that Ye Yongjia had entered the prison, he thought: "Ye Tie is cautious. If he goes to see His Majesty, something extraordinary will happen." It's better to go in with him and find out more about the thief. After thinking about it, he didn't have time to discuss it with Chen Tongpao, so he followed him to the prison alone.
"Master Ye, are you here too?"
Ye Yongjia had just walked to the door of the dormitory, without even stepping up the steps, when he heard someone shouting next to him. I only saw people from Hunan coming out of the mottled bamboo path on the side.
"It's disrespectful to be a good prince, disrespectful." He hugged the document close to his chest and bent slightly towards the Xiang people.
"What are you doing here?" People from Hunan Province asked in confusion when they saw the case file he was holding.
"Come and present the confession of the second criminal to the Emperor."
"Why, you didn't say hello to me beforehand?" The Hunanese man slowly approached him, his boots clacked softly on the bricks, "It's right that you are in charge of the prisoner, but the emperor's edict said that you are responsible for the case. I will make the decision jointly and not be arbitrary. If you don’t give me a few glances, how can I reply in front of the emperor?"
Ye Yongjia looked at his aggressive posture with cold eyes and thought to himself: "If I show this guy the case file, he will know my intention and vigorously obstruct it in front of the emperor. If those words hit the emperor's heart, Everything is over. It's better to cheat him and catch him off guard. '
He immediately changed his expression and said with a smile: "How dare you violate His Majesty's will? It's just that these confessions will be submitted sooner or later, there is nothing to discuss."
"What a saying, 'Why discuss'!" The Xiang people were already angry and sneered a few times with disdain, "When I see the emperor later, I will talk about this matter and see what is right and wrong in His Majesty's eyes. !”
Ye Yongjia said again: "I am only thinking about your lordship, not against you, so why should you be angry? Lianghou thinks about it calmly, this Cunzhao is the emperor's nephew, and Lan Yuan is the prince's confidant. Where are we ministers? It is inconvenient for anyone to intervene. This document is now sealed with an envelope. If it is completely opened and there are traces, Your Majesty may suspect that it has been changed. You and I, as the two persons in charge, will definitely bear the brunt. Today is coming In these troubled times, Your Majesty has lingering fears in his heart. He is most afraid of being deceived by his ministers, and is afraid that the ministers will take advantage of the situation to form cliques. We should be more careful in our dealings."
"It does make some sense," Guo Xiangren said with some doubts, "but this cannot be used as an excuse for you. I think back then, Tai Su, who was the emperor's uncle, was tortured and interrogated, so you didn't have so many concerns, and you were fair and impartial. The law enforcement was merciless and Lingchi was finally punished."
Ye Yongjia seemed to be choked by his words, and said helplessly: "Since the good prince insists on reading, I can't persuade you anymore. You can open these two documents if you like."
However, the people from Guoxiang were a little worried and asked: "Which one is Cun Zhao's confession?"
"The two confessions are almost the same. Lan Yuan gave a more detailed explanation." Although Ye Yongjia took out Cun Zhao's copy, he was still mumbling.
But the people in Xiang didn't think so: "This is Ye Thief's deceptive words, which cannot be trusted." ’ Then he silently opened Cun Zhao’s confession and saw that it read:
'The criminal Cun Zhao stated: Lan Yuan raised private livestock in Henan and Huguang, peeped into the state capital, and made friends with the sergeants... The guilty officials knew it but did not repay it, but did not help him achieve his goals. '
He immediately became alert. He looked up and saw a troubled look on Ye Yongjia's face. He understood something in his heart and began to think: "This article may have been forced by him to confess. He asked Cunzhao to say these words just to take the opportunity to visit the place and find out for him." The New Deal paves the way...'
"Are you two adults going to the palace to meet the saint? Why do you stay here?"
Before Xiang Ren could finish his thoughts, he was interrupted by the thin voice. He raised his head and saw that it was Shen Jing, the chief chamberlain. He quickly put away the documents and bowed: "We are afraid of disturbing the emperor's rest, so we don't dare to shout randomly."
"That's just right," Shen Jing said, "I still have to go into the palace to say hello, so just follow me."
Shen Jing led the two of them to the front hall. Since the emperor was having a meal at this time, he stayed there for a while until the sun set outside and saw the emperor riding up to the hall in a chariot and sitting down behind the curtain. The two said long live and knelt in front of the steps.
"What's the progress of your case?"
"Back to Your Majesty, for the first interrogation recently, the two of them recruited a lot of people," Ye Yongjia kowtowed and raised the case file high, "Here is the confession."
The eunuch handed over the confession, and the emperor seemed to nod his head: "These two people are indeed rebellious. What I guessed before is correct. As for the truth, we should send someone to investigate."
Ye Yongjia took advantage of the conversation and hurriedly took a step forward and said: "I would like to send someone from the Ministry of War to investigate the case! We will interview the rebels one by one to repay the divine grace!"
Before these words were spoken, Guo Xiang raised his head and said through gritted teeth: "I am opposed to Mr. Ye's opinion!"
